Mexican authorities investigate reports of tiger sighting

MEXICO CITY – Reports of an escaped tiger have put Mexican authorities on alert nine months after another Bengal tiger fled into a mangrove forest and disappeared.

An official at the environmental protection department in the Attorney General's Office said Thursday that inspectors were sent to the Gulf coast state of Campeche, where residents of the town of San Francisco Koben reported seeing a tiger. The species is not native to Mexico.

The official was not authorized to be quoted by name. He said inspectors had not seen the beast despite patrolling the area by day and using cameras with sensors at night.

The area is covered by jungle and is near coastal wetlands.

A tiger escaped in November from a restaurant in the southern state of Guerrero and apparently killed five cows.